Democrats unveiled new legislation to overhaul US police policy and hold police accountable for their actions. Here’s what’s in the bill.

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• Democrats in Congress unveiled police reform legislation on Monday following widespread protests over police brutality.

• The most recent round of protests was sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being knelt on by a white police officer.

• The bill would ban chokeholds, create a misconduct registry, and mandate training against racial profiling, among other changes.

• Here’s a summary of what’s included in the bill.

• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Democrats in Congress unveiled police reform legislation on Monday following widespread protests over police brutality.

The bill, known as the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, would ban chokeholds, create a misconduct registry, and mandate training against racial profiling, among other changes to national policy.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass of California, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, in the House. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California sponsored the bill in the Senate.

The bill targets four different issues: police accountability, transparency, training, and justice for victims of lynching

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

According to a summary of the bill, the legislation breaks down its approach to police reform through several sections: Police accountability, police transparency through data, improving police training and policies, and justice for victims of lynching. 

Among the reforms outlined under police accountability, the bill would grant power to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to issue subpoenas to police departments in order to conduct “pattern and practice” investigations “into discriminatory and unconstitutional policing practices.”

Additionally, it would provide grants to state attorneys general to “create an independent process to investigate misconduct or excessive use of force” by police.

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Reforms outlined under police transparency, include establishing a federal register of police misconduct complaints and whether or not disciplinary action was taken. The bill would also require states to report incidences where of use of force and include the sex, race, ethnicity, and housing status of civilians targeted.

The bill calls to improve police training and policies, including prohibiting federal, state, and local law enforcement from racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling,  and mandate that law enforcement provide training on profiling and racial bias. 

Notably, the bill would ban no-knock warrants for officers investigating drug cases, an issue cast to the forefront of the national agenda after police shot Breonna Taylor at least eight times while raiding her apartment on March 13. The bill would also prohibit the use of a chokehold and would require uniformed officers to wear body cameras and marked police vehicles to be equipped with dashboard cameras. 

Lastly, the bill calls for justice for victims of lynching, and would make it a federal crime to “conspire to violate existing hate crime laws.”

The bill has widespread support from Democrats, though Republicans remain skeptical 

Associated Press/John Locher

At a press conference unveiling the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that the bill was a “first step” in targeting systemic racism in the US.

“Police brutality is a heartbreaking reflection of an entrenched system of racial injustice in America,” Pelosi said. “True justice can only be achieved with full, comprehensive action. That is what we are doing today. This is a first step.  There is more to come.”

Pelosi and other members of Congress also knelt in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd, who died after being knelt on for that period of time by white police officer Derek Chauvin.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to commit to putting the police reform bill on the Senate floor for voting before July 4.

A spokesperson for former vice president and 2020 Democrat Joe Biden said he “fully supports” numerous provisions outlined in the bill. 

“Systemic racism and inequality have plagued our country for generations, and the time for talk is over. Americans want action,” the statement said. 

The bill, however, does not go as far as some rights groups, including Black Lives Matter and the ACLU, have in calling for funds to be diverted away from police toward social welfare programs. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other progressive leaders have voiced support for the defund the police movement.

And Republicans remain skeptical of the Democrats’ proposal.

Manu Raju, CNN’s senior congressional correspondent, said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was “open-minded” about ideas mentioned in the Democratic bill, including creating a registry of police misconduct and banning chokeholds. 

Sen. Mitt Romney announced plans to introduce a bipartisan police reform bill and called the Democratic-led proposal a “message piece as opposed to a real piece of legislation.”

President Donald Trump and other top Republicans have accused Democrats of attempting to push radical reform and promote the disbanding of local police departments, which has gained support by some protesters in recent weeks but is not being considered in the current Democratic proposal. 

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